Main navigation

Read An Employee's Mind With These 5 Essential Tips

Article views

1981

VIEWS

Employee satisfaction is an often overlooked aspect of the success of a company. A lot of corporate leaders focus more on client acquisition and retention than on employee morale. However, it is vital to remember that without employees, you will not have clients. Every employee plays an important role in the success of the business they work for.

Happy employees are productive employees. But, if your employees are not happy, you will experience a high turnover rate. It can be very expensive to replace employees and bring a new person on board. It is much more cost efficient to reduce turnover. Therefore, it is vital to understand the needs of your employees. Understanding the needs of your employees is a lifelong commitment, but these five tips will get your started in the right direction.

Comment Box

Using an anonymous comment box is a great way to learn what your employees are thinking. A comment box will give employees the opportunity to reveal how they feel about your company and your leadership. They will be able to do this because comment boxes will allow them to remain anonymous. Otherwise, employees will be reluctant to tell you how they really feel because they will be afraid of your response.

Put the comment box somewhere that is not overcrowded. If the comment box is right next to the boss's door, people are not as likely to use it. Having a comment box in a highly populated area defeats the purpose. This is important because reading from the comment box will allow you to get in touch with the thoughts and feelings of your employees. This insight will help you discover any changes that you should make.

Have An Open Mind

It is important to be open minded. If you are not open minded, employees will not be as likely to come to you if there is a problem. They are not going to waste their time if they don't think you are going to do anything to solve their problem. Instead, they will just quit. You may never know the real reason they left.

But, if you show your employees you have an open mind, they will be more likely to talk to you. They need to know that you are willing to listen to their ideas. You may be surprised by how helpful listening to employees can be. Being less experienced does not mean they do not have valuable information. Don' ignore this valuable source of feedback.

Ask Them

We tend to overthink and over complicate issues. However, the best solutions are sometimes the most obvious. If you want to know what your employees are thinking, just ask them.

However, it is important that you implement this method the right way. If you don't ask for input properly, you will be wasting your time. But, with the right approach, simply asking your employees how they feel can be very effective. Don't ask just one employee.

Make an announcement that you want to improve employee satisfaction and are open to comments. You can even offer a reward to employees if you use their idea. As a bonus, by asking employees how they feel, you will show them you care. Employees are more likely to stay with a company if they know their leaders care about them.

Empathize

You need to empathize with your employees if you want to know how they feel. Use the methods taught in corporate sales training. Approach employee satisfaction with at least the same amount of effort as you approach client satisfaction.

The best way to do this is to put yourself in their position. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were them. Would you enjoy working for you? Would you be happy with their pay? If not, ask yourself why. Then, find ways to improve in those areas.

Exit Interview

They say employees don't leave companies. Employees leave managers. The best way to reduce turnover is to find out why your current employees are leaving. Conducting an exit interview is the best way to do this. Ask them why they are leaving. Ask them what they would change about your company.